Yes, this, it's just the door. I added some sort of window now and will try to create the outside building. I have no idea how to go about this, I guess I'll just look at some valve maps and try to make it similar.
Introducing myself and pl_snail rail
- Thread starter The301stSpartan
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Yes, this, it's just the door. I added some sort of window now and will try to create the outside building. I have no idea how to go about this, I guess I'll just look at some valve maps and try to make it similar.
This is what I have right now but I feel it's a bit lacking. I'll have to make it bigger and add lots of details later but I wonder if I should make it much bigger than the actually used space for the spawn rooms.
I hope I'm doing it right so far.
Fish 2.0
L6: Sharp Member
- Nov 22, 2012
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This is what I have right now but I feel it's a bit lacking. I'll have to make it bigger and add lots of details later but I wonder if I should make it much bigger than the actually used space for the spawn rooms.
I hope I'm doing it right so far.
Try to avoid using orange textures so much, I find the reflectivity textures more easy on the eyes. If that's the blue spawn, then change the colour to blue, red to red. Just search dev in the filter and it should be in there somewhere.
Try to use the unit ruler one too, because it can be a great help when getting scale.
Well yeah, first I wanted to make all horizontal surfaces white and all vertical ones orange but then I got lazy and just made everything orange. After I'm done building this thing (prolly tomorrow) I will make it blu-ish.
New question: How exactly does func_detail work and what prevents me from just making every brush that is not sealing the map from the void a func_detail?
New question: How exactly does func_detail work and what prevents me from just making every brush that is not sealing the map from the void a func_detail?
func_detail just groups the brushes so that they're automatically selected together when you're in Groups or Objects mode and flags each of them as not blocking visibility — in other words, the engine will render what's behind them, no matter what. But visibility-blocking brushes split the playable space between them into a bunch of air pockets, so to speak, known as visleaves. So you want to use it for stuff that won't significantly block the player's view anyway and things that would cause an unreasonable number of smalle visleaves to be generated. If your map consists of a lot of corridors and small rooms, you'll want to limit this mainly to brushes used for fine details, like stairs or platforms. On the flip side, in Gravel Pit, all three of the capture point buildings are 100% func_detail.
Again, the VisGroups panel is your friend. Bring up a Valve map similar in layout to what you're working on, and uncheck Func Detail to see how much stuff disappears. You'll usually be left with a lot of large, boxy buildings that look like something out of Doom.
On an unrelated note, it looks like you're using a rather odd approach to the grid in your map so far. I recommend sticking to making your brushes units thick and adhering mainly to a 16-by-16-unit grid when you build, especially during early alphas.
Again, the VisGroups panel is your friend. Bring up a Valve map similar in layout to what you're working on, and uncheck Func Detail to see how much stuff disappears. You'll usually be left with a lot of large, boxy buildings that look like something out of Doom.
On an unrelated note, it looks like you're using a rather odd approach to the grid in your map so far. I recommend sticking to making your brushes units thick and adhering mainly to a 16-by-16-unit grid when you build, especially during early alphas.
You aren't using IE by any chance? Because I have to and it screws up the grid in my screenshots when I look at them here. I have everything snapped on the grid so far, walls are 24 thick and the invisible ground is 64.
Made everything less obnoxiously orange. Added the ground for the next area of the map. Not a lot of good ideas for the building so I'm leaving it like that for now. Not sure where to continue. Would this be the time to start placing the cart and rails already? Or would it be too much of a hassle if I wanted to displace the ground later for hills and such? Basically, BLU's third of the map consists almost completely of props, rails and 2 major buildings, one of which is the spawn, so I'm not really sure what to do next.
UPDATE: Spawn building looks better now. Still no idea what to do next. Do I make the other buildings in hammer first, do I make the ground with displacement already and put the tracks on it or do I make all external props first and import them to the map?
Btw I hope I'm not violating any forum rules by triple posting.
Making this a quadruple post, I have decided to start doing the cart tracks and ground displacements should any be needed.
I'm now facing the problem that I need this huge curve in the tracks that I cannot really create with the curve angles in the prop models. Is there any way to get that? Otherwise I could simply make it a polygon instead of a circle, doesn't look worse I hope.
nightwatch
aa
- Sep 7, 2012
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Don't worry about multiple posting, it happens quite a bit in this forum if other people don't respond in between your updates. You could always make your own track models, which shouldn't be too difficult if you have a history of modelling.
EDIT: The other problem with a huge curving section of track is that you'll need a ton of path_tracks to make it smooth, which might not be too easy and could potentially take up a good chunk of your entity limit.
EDIT: The other problem with a huge curving section of track is that you'll need a ton of path_tracks to make it smooth, which might not be too easy and could potentially take up a good chunk of your entity limit.
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I saw correctly. The walls show up as six squares thick, so you must have been on a 4-unit grid. If you're using 24 units for what is normally 16, you should stop and ask yourself if you have a reason for it. Especially since, if 24 looks like a normal thickness to you right now, it might be a sign that you're misjudging the scale of the whole game and are on track to build an overscaled map.
And then there's the eight-unit wall that straddles both sides of the red line. What's up with that?
Fish 2.0
L6: Sharp Member
- Nov 22, 2012
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- 262
About your track, I think that you can get away with just having a small turn, straight track, small turn, straight track etc.
I myself would build the main structures in your map first because it easier to build tracks around them than to build around the tracks.
I myself would build the main structures in your map first because it easier to build tracks around them than to build around the tracks.
I didn't know that 16 was normal. In read somewhere that you should make your walls at least 16 thick, so I went for 24 as I remembered quite a few flamethrowers stickingn through walls and I didn't want that. If it matters I can change that. You're right though, some of them are aligned at 8, I made this building pretty much in one going so I probably was on 8 and felt comfortable and then went on with it. Although the spawn rooms are really, really big, I'm keeping that in mind and will split them up later and/or fill them with stuff not to make them oversized. It's also a reason why I'm adding the tracks so early; it helps me orient a bit better. The 4-thin wall you saw should be this right here
As for the curve:
I might do this, but I'm afraid it would be a huge hassle. Modelling the stuff is no problem for me, but C4D seems to have no direct means of exporting to a hammer-friendly format, so I would probbaly have to export to .wrl or .obj, then import into XSI mod tool, texture everything in mod tool (never used it before), then somehow compile that for hammer use. Has anybody ever done that and can give me tips?
This I don't like. What is my entity limit? Because if I look at my sketches, that cart track really has a lot of curves.
Maybe I will just use straight parts and 45° curves, making it an octagon insteada of a circle.
EDIT: Btw, is my default texture really a trollface? Really, Valve?
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nightwatch
aa
- Sep 7, 2012
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I hate how hammer decides the default texture - mine has been a weapon skin for the past year and it's really annoying.
The default texture is the first one alphabetically/heirarchically. You must have been on a server that downloaded a trollface to your /materials/ root directory. Mine is also a weapon skin; it came from some server that uses Advanced Weaponizer (I can't for the life of me remember ever being on one).
As for the track curve, you should be all right. Were the 22.5 degree turns made official? If not, check our downloadable models section; I know that's where they were originally put. I recommend using four of those and seeing if that's a wide enough turn. You shouldn't require that many path_tracks for it, especially if your map is meant to be single-stage.
As for the track curve, you should be all right. Were the 22.5 degree turns made official? If not, check our downloadable models section; I know that's where they were originally put. I recommend using four of those and seeing if that's a wide enough turn. You shouldn't require that many path_tracks for it, especially if your map is meant to be single-stage.
Well, I decided to do it the proper way.
How many polygons would you say are justified? This goes for more complex props later too, how many polys can I have before it starts to cause performance problems?
How many polygons would you say are justified? This goes for more complex props later too, how many polys can I have before it starts to cause performance problems?
Done, about 2k polys now, I hope that's ok for a really large object like this. if not, i can still lower it.
Now comes the shitty part which is exporting everything to XSI, a program that I never used before, texture it there and then somehow get it into hammer. Wish me luck.
If I manage to do it I can put the model up for you guys to download, if anyone has interest in a huge curve like that.
EDIT This is horrible. To get that model into my game and look half decent I have to do all the following:
-export model as .obj
-open .obj in xsi mod tool
-use gcfscape to find model of the original track
-use commandline tool to extract the .vtf textures from the model
-use photoshop to cut the textures to fit the new model and save as jpgs
-properly apply the new textures to the model in xsi (still no idea how to do it right)
-export everything as .smd
-use external command line tool to compile .smd and textures to .mdl (don't even know how)
I'm going to bed. Making the model itself is like nothing compared to this horrible pipeline. I hope I somehow figure it out.
(HELP)
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Also you could have made that prop two separate quarter-circles, the larger of which could just be used twice. And that's still assuming the small one wasn't the same size as four 22.5-degree bends (or close enough for government work).
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